Questions before you start.
Answers about eligibility, preparing and filing your federal return, pricing and foreign accounts.
32 questions in 6 topics.
Who is ExpatReturn.us designed for?
Americans abroad preparing eligible US federal individual returns. The current customer scope admits US citizens and resident aliens, with additional checks on the income, forms and circumstances in the return. Nonresident and dual-status returns are outside the current offer.
Which tax year can I prepare?
Eligible 2025 federal individual returns, e-filed. Earlier years (2019 to 2024) are prepared as paper packages you print, sign and mail. A 2025 return we e-filed can be amended once the IRS accepts it. Each return is priced by the plan its forms need, per return. A separate streamlined catch-up package covers the three past returns and the FBARs. Preparation for 2026 is not enabled. E-file for 2025 returns pauses for the IRS's year-end shutdown from December 26, 2026, 11:59 a.m. Eastern; the IRS says it reopens in January, and until then you can print and mail the return instead.
My spouse isn’t American. Can I still file?
The interview asks about your spouse’s US status. On a separate return, a spouse who is neither a US citizen nor a US resident and has never been issued a US tax number can be left without one.
Do I still have US filing requirements if I live abroad?
Living abroad does not automatically remove US filing requirements. The IRS says US citizens and resident aliens abroad generally file in the same way as those living in the United States, and a return is usually required when gross income from worldwide sources meets the filing threshold for the filing status.
Whether you must file depends on income, filing status, age and other circumstances; owing no US income tax does not by itself settle that question. See US expat tax basics.
Is this software or an accountant preparing my return?
It is software for preparing your own federal return. You answer the questions and check the prepared forms. Accountant preparation, personal tax advice, a professional review service and audit defense are not included.
Do I need to know how to fill in IRS forms?
The interview asks about circumstances, with help beside the questions. It uses the answers to calculate and prepare the supported federal forms. You still need accurate records, complete answers and a final check of the return; a question-based interview does not replace checking the information.
I only have payslips, no W-2. Is that enough?
The interview asks whether your employer is outside the United States, then asks for that employer’s pay. W-2 details come up only where that form applies.
My income is in pounds or euros. Do I convert it?
Most income amounts can be entered in your own currency and are converted at the IRS yearly average rate. For income received and costs paid through the year, the interview offers a currency picker and converts the amount at the IRS yearly average exchange rate for the year. A currency with no rate for the year is refused by name, never converted at a guessed rate.
Some amounts still ask for US dollars: sale proceeds and purchase costs on the day of the sale or purchase, Form 8938 values (Treasury rate on the last day of the year), and a foreign tax claimed as paid (rate on the day paid).
Can I save my progress and finish later?
Yes. Answers save as you go, and signing back in resumes your saved progress. Look for “Saved” before leaving. If the connection fails, the interview says the latest changes have not saved yet; those changes should not be assumed to be on the server.
Can I change an answer?
Yes. The interview’s review summary groups answers and has an edit link beside each one, taking you back to the relevant question. If answers change after a PDF was prepared, the old PDF is marked out of date and a new one must be prepared before signing.
Does uploading a document complete the answers for me?
No. The documents stage in your account accepts PDF, PNG and JPEG records, and extracted values are suggestions that still need confirmation; a document upload does not replace the interview.
What do I get to review before paying and signing?
First, an interview summary with links to edit answers. When the required information and records are complete, the case is checked and you review your return on screen before paying. You then open a PDF of the prepared forms, with the included forms listed, and sign with a self-select PIN. Changing the answers means preparing and checking the return again.
Which federal forms are supported?
Standard includes the 1040, Schedules 1, 1-A, 2, 3, A and B, plus the eligible expat, credit, retirement and other forms listed on the coverage page. Premier adds Schedule C, Schedule SE and Forms 4562, 7206, 8829, 8858 and 8995. Investor adds Schedules D and E, Forms 8582, 8949, 4797, 8621, 6198 and 7203, and limited Form 8938 preparation.
A listed form does not mean every situation on that form is supported; check the coverage notes as well as the plan name.
Can I prepare freelance or self-employment income?
The Premier plan covers one eligible freelance or sole-proprietor business per person (on a joint return, one for you and one for your spouse), its income and expenses, supported self-employment calculations, ordinary depreciation and the home office.
The qualified business income deduction (Form 8995, simple computation) is included for work done in the United States; a business run abroad gets no deduction. More than one business for one person is not included in the plans. Statutory-employee cases are excluded. See self-employed coverage.
Are Form 4562 and Form 8829 included?
Yes, in the Premier plan. Form 4562 covers ordinary depreciation of business assets; section 179 expensing and depreciation of vehicles and other listed property are not included. Form 8829 covers the regular home-office method for one business in one home; a home office for more than one business or more than one home is not included. The simplified home-office method uses Schedule C instead.
Can I report investment sales, crypto or foreign funds?
The Investor plan includes eligible sales using the figures you enter, with Schedule D and Form 8949: sales reported on Form 1099-B and sales with no Form 1099-B (Form 8949 boxes C and F), capital-loss carryovers from earlier years and capital-gain distributions.
Form 4797 (sale of depreciated business or rental property), Form 8621 (PFIC reporting) and partnership and S corporation K-1s (2019 to 2025 returns) are also in the Investor plan, with their limits. Digital-asset sales (Form 8949 boxes G to L) and crypto imports are not included in the plans. See investment coverage.
Is rental income included in Investor?
Yes, for eligible cases. The Investor plan includes rental and royalty income on Schedule E Part I, US or foreign, with depreciation on Form 4562 as in Premier. Form 8582 is prepared when a rental loss is limited because you did not actively participate in the rental, and Form 6198 when money in the rental is not at risk. Grouped or short-term rentals and a limited rental loss alongside the foreign tax credit are not included. Partnership and S corporation K-1s go on Schedule E Part II, for 2019 to 2025 returns, with their limits. A rental held through a company or LLC set up abroad is refused by name.
Is a state return included?
No. We do not prepare or file state returns. The state check, at no extra charge, tells you, from that state's own saved rules, whether the state you last lived in may still expect a 2025 return and gives that state's page. For Idaho, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, New Hampshire, North Dakota and Rhode Island we have no saved source, so it only says to check with the state. A state filing requirement must be handled separately.
Can I catch up on prior years, amend a return or request an extension?
To catch up on earlier years, a Streamlined Foreign Offshore Procedures package is prepared separately, not in the plan price: $699 Standard, $819 Premier, $939 Investor, by the tier that matches your income, covering the three past returns and the FBARs. The returns and certification are printed, signed and mailed by you to the IRS in Austin; they are not e-filed.
A single earlier-year return (2019 to 2024) is prepared on paper, priced per return by the plan its forms need. You can amend a 2025 return we e-filed once the IRS accepts it, with Form 1040-X, priced the same way: we e-file it where the IRS allows, and otherwise prepare a paper package you mail. A return filed on paper or elsewhere cannot be amended here. Forms 4868 and 2350 and Form W-7 (a new ITIN, or the renewal of an expired one) come at no extra charge, and you mail them; a return that carries a Form W-7 is a paper package you mail too. We do not e-file extension requests today. An extension has to be asked for by the return's due date. For 2025 and earlier years that date has passed, so a request is refused unless an IRS disaster relief notice gives your area a later date for a 2025 return. For 2026, you would use the form the IRS publishes until the 2026 form is on file here. Read the deadlines and extensions guide.
How much are the plans?
$119 for Standard, $149 for Premier and $199 for Investor, in US dollars per federal return.
Two services are prepared separately, not in the plan price: FBAR e-filing at $59 per person, and the streamlined catch-up package at $699 Standard, $819 Premier, $939 Investor, covering the three past returns and the FBARs.
How do I choose a plan?
Standard is for salary, interest and ordinary dividends. Premier adds one eligible freelance business per person, with depreciation and the home office. Investor adds eligible investment sales, rental and royalty income, and limited Form 8938 preparation. Check every part of the return against the coverage limits; a higher plan does not cover every complex case.
Do I need Premier for child or education credit forms?
No. Eligible Schedule 8812, Form 2441 and Form 8863 preparation is already included in Standard, and Premier and Investor inherit those inclusions. Each form has its own limits, including employer-provided dependent-care benefits, which are refused. If the IRS disallowed the child tax credit, the credit for other dependents or the American opportunity credit in an earlier year, Form 8862 is prepared with it; its earned income credit part is not completed. The 2021 child tax credit is prepared on the 2021 paper return.
When do I pay?
You create an account, answer the interview and review your return on screen before paying. Payment is taken before you sign, submit or download the PDFs, and before an FBAR file or the streamlined package is produced.
Until we transmit your return, or until you first open or download a paper package, you can ask for a full refund for any reason. Read the refund rules.
Do you file FBAR, and does Form 8938 replace it?
We prepare FBARs separately from the tax return: the FBAR is a separate FinCEN report, never part of Form 1040, and it is not in the plan price. When you ask us to, we e-file your FBAR with FinCEN through the BSA E-Filing System for $59 per person, with a Form 114a you sign by typing your name. See FBAR filing.
Form 8938 does not replace an FBAR obligation; the IRS and FinCEN requirements must be checked separately. The Investor plan has limited Form 8938 preparation.
I already paid income tax abroad. Does that help?
Eligible foreign income taxes may qualify for a foreign tax credit, which can reduce US tax on that income. Paying tax abroad does not automatically remove the US filing requirement.
The plans support eligible calculations including prior-year carryovers. Apportionments the instructions do not settle, and categories whose credit is worked out on forms the product does not prepare, are refused by name.
A foreign tax in a non-dollar currency needs the conversion explanation the IRS instructions require. The product writes it where it converted the tax at the IRS yearly average rate; otherwise you attach your own PDF explanation before the electronic return is sent. See the foreign tax credit guide.
Does living overseas automatically qualify me for the foreign earned income exclusion?
No. Eligibility depends on foreign earned income, a tax home in a foreign country, and meeting either the bona fide residence test or the physical presence test (330 full days in any 12 consecutive months). The interview asks about time and work abroad for supported cases.
A prior revocation of the exclusion is handled; only an IRS-approved re-election inside the five-year bar is not included. See the exclusion guide.
Can I claim a foreign tax credit on income I exclude?
You cannot claim the foreign tax credit for foreign taxes on income excluded using the foreign earned income or housing exclusion; these benefits need to be coordinated. Current software coverage is limited to the supported calculations and situations described on the forms page.
Do you e-file my return with the IRS?
Yes. After you review your return and pay, you open a PDF of the prepared forms and sign with a self-select PIN, and we e-file the return with the IRS. The app shows when the IRS accepts or rejects it. E-file for 2025 returns pauses for the IRS's year-end shutdown from December 26, 2026, 11:59 a.m. Eastern; the IRS says it reopens in January, and until then you can print and mail the return instead. A return that goes on paper is printed, signed and mailed by you, as are the returns in the streamlined package.
Does signing mean the IRS has accepted my return?
No. Signing, submission and IRS acceptance are separate stages. Your signature authorizes the submission; neither the signature nor the prepared PDF is IRS acceptance. Acceptance comes only from the IRS acknowledgement, and the app then shows “The IRS accepted your return.” or “The IRS rejected your return. Review is needed.”
Where can I read about data and security?
The privacy page explains how information is handled, and the security page describes the protections in the preparation system.
Are the tax guides personal advice or a promise of coverage?
No. The guides explain general topics using official sources. Your own facts determine your obligations, and a topic appearing in a guide does not mean the software prepares every related form or situation. The supported-forms page checks the product offer.
How can I ask a product question?
Email contact@expatreturn.us. Include the page or feature you are asking about and a general description of the question. Please don’t email tax returns, tax documents, Social Security numbers, PINs, passwords or bank details.
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